1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to generating a signal indicative of a character, and in particular to methods and apparatus for generating a signal indicative of a character, where such signal is based upon a user's input.
2. Description of the Related Art
The generation of a signal indicative of a character by a user occurs in many electronic devices. A telephone, for example, requires a user to enter a series of digits in order to place a call. A typical telephone uses a numeric touch pad to allow a user to enter the desired digits. Although some users memorize the position of the digits on the numeric touch pad, most users must look at the touch pad while selecting digits.
Mobile telephones have become increasingly popular for use in an automobile. Here, the use of a touch pad can cause a driver to divert his or her focus from the road. When a driver wishes to place a telephone call, the driver must look at the touch pad in order to enter the desired telephone number. While the driver's focus is directed towards the telephone and dial pad, the driver is unable to properly focus on the road ahead. Consequently, the use of a touch keypad can prove hazardous.
Many designs to reduce the risk of diverting a driver's attention have been implemented. For example, some mobile telephones allow a user to preprogram selected telephone numbers. Then, when a driver wishes to call a particular telephone number, he or she need only press a single button. This reduces the amount of time that a driver's attention is focused away from the road. Still, however, the driver needs to direct his or her focus to the preprogrammed button.
Alternatively, mobile telephones have implemented speech recognition for dialing. Such systems allow a driver to dial a number by speaking to the mobile telephone. The mobile telephone is able to recognize spoken digits and uses the spoken digits to dial a telephone number.
The use of speech recognition in connection with a mobile telephone allows the driver to focus on the road without diverting his or her attention to a touch pad. This greatly reduces the risk that a driver will encounter a road hazard while not focused on the road. Unfortunately, the speech recognition of spoken digits requires complicated and expensive signal processing hardware to implement. The cost of the speech recognition hardware has limited the popularity of mobile telephones which use this technology.
Accordingly, a dialer and a method for selecting a character which avoids diverting a driver's focus from the road and which could be cost-effectively implemented is desired.